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Surveillance and Human Rights

Surveillance and Human Rights

In 2013, EFF and a coalition of hundreds of experts and human rights activists put the finishing touches on theNecessary and Proportionate Principles. These 13 Principles articulate how international human rights law should be applied to government surveillance. National and local activists from Mexico to Egypt have used the Principles to push for stronger protections against digital surveillance. We’veseen them used in litigation, legislation, administrative work, and advocacy campaigns, as well asdebated in both regional and international policy venues. As part of our work to assist lawmakers, activists and judges in creating modern, effective surveillance law that are respectful of human rights, EFF and our partners are working to build a complete legal toolkit around the Principles, starting with a detailed legal backgrounder and analysis, explaining their basis in international human rights law.

Reviews of Local Surveillance Law:

In 2015, EFF collaborated with Latin American groups and individuals to compile local country reports aimed at analyzing state communications surveillance and the protection of fundamental rights in Latin America. The reports explain the concept of communications surveillance, according to the definition set by international human rights standards, and discuss how state surveillance activities are often at odds with certain fundamental rights recognized in constitutions, regulations, and law. The reports analyze local surveillance activities vis-à-vis the 13 Principles, a set of international standards that articulate the duties and obligations of states when engaging in communications surveillance, and provide public policy recommendations as the basis for future law reform.

All around the world, people are taking on the surveillance machine -- and winning. EFF has been working in tandem with successful advocates in Colombia, Zimbabwe, Egypt and beyond to identify some of the best strategies for challenging proposals and surveillance practices which erode civil liberties. We have gathered counter-surveillance success stories to share with a global coalition of advocates who are encountering problematic proposals in their own countries. We’re sure that this list of examples will continue to grow.

Through our Global Surveillance and Human Rights Project, advocates will learn how to effectively fight overreaching government surveillance proposals around the world. By working together with advocates, lawyers, journalists, bloggers, and security experts on the ground, we built a Surveillance and Human Rights Camp in which we mapped specific problems posed by invasive surveillance infrastructure and devise regional and national solutions, strategies, and tactics. Together, we share knowledge on existing legislative initiatives, international fora, and other venues where we can make an impact, and devise strong legal safeguards, based on a realistic understanding of the technological threats, against government access to people’s communications and data.

Law enforcement access to data is in the middle of a profound shake-upacross the globe. States are pushing to get quicker, deeper, and more invasive access to personal data stored on the global Internet, and are looking to water down the international safeguards around privacy and due...

Throughout 2018, new surveillance practices continued to erode the privacy of people in Latin America. Yet local and regional digital rights organizations continue to push back with strategic litigation, journalists and security researchers investigate to shed light on government use of malware, and local activists work tirelessly to fight overarching...

In an era where political and corporate leaders are attacking the free press as “the enemy of the people,” it’s crucial that we recognize the truth: journalists every day are uncovering stories that protect our rights and hold those in power accountable. Meanwhile, as the media landscape shrinks, non-profits are...

Fundación Karisma, Colombia’s leading digital rights organization, just launched its fourth annual ¿Dónde Estan Mis Datos? report in collaboration with EFF. The results are even more encouraging than the ones seen in 2017, with significant improvement in transparency - five companies published transparency reports, and four publicly explained...

EFF, as part of a coalition of over sixty other human rights groups led by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International —still have questions for Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO. Leaks and rumors continue to spread from Google about “Project Dragonfly,” a secretive plan to create a censored, trackable...